Where do I begin? In theory, a draft should be picked from NXT or guys who don't have WWE contracts. Fresh meat. This is more of a trade between RAW and Smackdown. Previous drafts were "computer" generated that seemed automated. Other years the GMs would choose. In both cases very predictable. Tag teams and real life couples never get split up which is a joke.

Any chance Judgement Day is getting split up? Nope.
Any chance Sammy and KO are getting split up? Nope.
Any chance Seth and Becks are getting split up? Nope.
Any chance Fairy Gargano and wife are getting split up? Nope.

Do they think anyone cares which show Rey Mysterio is on?

It wont be memorable and we'll have to rely on the commentators for the constant reminders who is on which show, but the reality is no one cares. C'mon WWE tell me why it matters?


Now for the Heavyweight Championship. HHH's explanation was so dumb. So they want a champion who defends the title more frequently and do what's best for business? Hey Trips, you're in charge. Why not just tell the writers to do a storyline where Roman loses the titles? Duh...

Instead after 3+ years they're gonna finally undermine the build up of Roman Reigns title run and water it down with another title. No matter who wins, it will be the "B" title. And after several years I'm sure we'll see Champion vs Champion again for the undisputed heavyweight championship. I can see it now. Somehow Cody will win it, but he never beat Roman, blah blah blah. So predictable. They did it with Jericho, Balor, Reigns and whoever else that I'm forgetting, but its just rinse and repeat. Oh wait, even OMOS gets written into the storyline with Seth as a possible contender. Omos is the male version of Eve. Hooray! Everybody gets a championship.

you make fair points.

that title reveal - in terms of storytelling - was complete BS to me. "yeah we don't really know how to get the belt off roman, nobody can beat him, sooo.....here's another one for ya"

like shouldn't all the guys want to beat Roman? doesn't Roman have two titles? so is this three now? Is this just something to keep Cody busy for a while?

WWE worked so hard to build the prestige of the IC and US titles, but now they're now doing the opposite with the Heavyweight Championship. How is there more prestige when you have more titles? It becomes like a participation trophy.

It would be more understandable if there was some kind of controversy with how a title match ended with Roman and they had to split the 2 titles up again. But to add a 3rd title for a BS reason just makes no sense.

Everything OP said is correct.

That new title is the dumbest idea. HHH should have said, "Hey Roman you need to defend both titles on each brand, or we will strip you of one".

The only upside to the new title is they can sell new toy belts I guess.

so to be clear :

they are making a THIRD Main title, while the other two are staying in existence with roman? Another heavy weight title is redundant but its obvious that cody or seth will win it just to do the 'face off with titles on their shoulders' promos

B+ Champ

Draft has been boring af for years. They hype it up every year and it turns out to lame every time. Doesn't help that Raw and SD aren't actually different brands.

I have no problem with Roman getting buried like that, serious or not

Judgment Day is off to Smackdown? Or does Rhea finally get to break free - seeing as only her and Priest are not jobbing every fuking week?

Good question. Pretty sure Rhea hasn't defended the title since she won it at WM and with Bianca also being on RAW it doesn't make sense to have both women champions on the same show.

If Bianca gets drafted to Smackdown, then Judgement Day stays on RAW or vice versa.

WWE can't be that dumb to have Rhea split from Judgement Day for no other reason other than "going on her own". Not only is she the "low blow" enforcer, she has the most popularity out of Fin, Dom and Priest. Besides the charisma Rhea has with Dom, pretty sure WWE is still milking everything they can out of the "Mami" shirts.

Both looking fuking stupid. Like how Triple H’s “ground rules” pointed out that any individual could be drafted, then proceeds to announce a package deal of the bloodline as the very first pick. Guess he missed that note. Also, who is “they” making the draft picks for each Raw and Smackdown? So half assed. This feels like Vince.

That's basically how we got the Universal Championship in 2016 after Orton unified WWE and World by beating Cena, or how we got the WHW championship back in 2002.

This is positive; Roman relegated to SD means I don't have to watch that chit unless Rhea or LA Knight show up there too

Draft? What happened to those "Superstar Shakeups" that they used to do years ago?

they're all on Raw

the heat Dom is getting from the crowd is pretty amazing though, I can see this going places, kid is 100% main eventer in future

The Draft was weak. Wrestlers who were already on RAW and Smackdown getting announced to the same show they were already on like it was big news.With Bel Air going to Smackdown, it only makes sense they come to RAW.

Dom has been good, but how much longer is he going to feud with daddy? What else can he offer when in a non-family feud? That's the real test.

I think he stopped needing Rey a long time ago, at this point it's Rey who needs him to stay relevant.

Dom's image as a whiny ungrateful annoying kid who has the other 3 help him out of tough spots is well-established.

That whole Jailbird Dom thing might've started at a family thanksgiving but it has nothing to do with Rey.

The Draft has been mostly non-memorable despite the promises to "shake things up". No surprise there.


Looks like the winner of the shi*t show is the World Heavyweight Championship. The only good thing about it is a tournament. There is no other way to crown a new champion. The problem is the execution how they're doing it. Tournament matches on RAW and Smackdown is so dumb. No one is going to remember the first round, quarter finals, semi finals. Having non-memorable tournament matchups on shows on RAW and Smackdown mixed in with the other matches only waters down the title even further because there is no emotional investment over the course of the tournament. if people don't remember the previous rounds of what it took to get to the finals, then what's the point?

The only way for the new title to actually garner some prestige is to dedicate a PPV strictly for the tournament only. WWE will never do this because they probably want to have other wrestlers and storylines on the card, but therein lies the problem if you don't give the tournament enough attention. Pretty sure the final 4 will be Brock, Cody, Rollins and Lashley. Any mix of these 4 will probably be in the finals. They need give the 'WWE Universe" the opportunity to actually see someone EARN it by wrestling 4x or more on the same card progressing through each round. Macho did it WM4, but most people don't remember and its not in recent memory. Doing a 1 night tournament would be something new and memorable.

I feel like we all know who is winning the new title lmao.

They didn't let him beat Roman and they just let him beat Brock...

Completely agree. That’s why this is a dumb idea. Pretty much handing him the title on a silver platter.

Cody's out of the tournament, so the question is: who's he going to win it off of?

I swear if this is just Rollins v Rhodes again...

would make the most sense to give it to edge and have cody win mitb and flip them. top baby for top baby. more or less a fair trade.

edge cut a promo on twitter about winning it and retiring once he loses it.

that would be huge for a guy like austin theory and would be another thing to legitimize rollins even more. seems like it could make for a compelling story. every match could be your last.

Rollins v Lashley

Looking at the other triple threat AJ, Edge and Rey all have beef with Judgement Day. Pretty sure they'll be some outside interference to screw it up for any of them.

Rollins v Styles is what it will be after seeing Smackdown... any takers?

Could actually see Styles winning since Rollins seems too obvious. The OC has been face til now so screwing Rollins to win title at NOC would be great heel turn for "The Club"

This also sets up an easy feud with both Judgement Day (already hinted at) and eventually Cody for the titles due to NJPW connections.

It has to be Seth, no? I just don’t see the benefit in giving it to AJ; he’s not a draw like Seth. With Seth, there’s a lot more potential to eventually get the belt on Roman or Cody because of the feuds.

Fuk AJ; he's been on the shelf for ages and the sloot is the only one who got any TV time out of The OC. Now he's back and they're back and he's in the title picture?

This is already an embarrassment. AJ v Rollins. Twink v slightly more acrobatic twink.

I remember when World Titles used to mean something.

Needle Dick Rollins has to be considered the favorite here. If Styles and the Club were handled creatively/booking wise with any degree of integrity or effectiveness, it would seem more probable. Doesn’t seem to be the case. Is there anyone with a loophole who could enter the mix? One thought would have been Theory finding a loophole with his cash in on Rollins a while back, but him quietly being eliminated in this tournament seems to count that out. This end result feels so bland.

Rollins is the only person who can claim some level of legitimacy to the belt.

Rollins is the only guy that Roman never really beat. Last time they wrestled, Rollins won. Anyone else holding that title first makes the title the "Not as good as Roman Title".